Communication & Member EngagementPurpose
1.2. Ensure timely and accurate circulation of requests to pastoral staff, prayer teams, or congregation.
1.3. Handle input from forms, messages, or church apps; distribute notifications via multiple channels (SMS, email, app, chat, voice).
1.4. Automate acknowledgment to the requester, and allow assignment/escalation based on priority, topic, location, or team availability.
1.5. Track requests through lifecycle—submission, acceptance, follow-up, closure—for reporting and continual engagement.
Trigger Conditions
2.2. New prayer request email to designated church inbox.
2.3. SMS/WhatsApp message containing keyword “Prayer” to church number.
2.4. Entry in church management system flagged as "Prayer Requested."
2.5. Specific voice command or phone input in IVR system.
2.6. Request logged during an event via onsite kiosk or app integration.
2.7. Prayer request post or comment in monitored Facebook group or Slack channel.
Platform Variants
3.1 Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: Programmable Messaging webhook for incoming prayer request SMS; configured for new request parsing and trigger notification flow.
3.2 SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: Inbound Parse Webhook to receive and process prayer request emails, then trigger notifications with dynamic templates.
3.3 Mailgun
• Feature/Setting: Routes & Webhooks for parsing prayer request emails; use Mailgun API to send acknowledgment and group notifications.
3.4 Microsoft Teams
• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook in a prayer team channel; use Teams API to post automated notifications.
3.5 Slack
• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook to designated #prayer-requests channel; automated bot mention to alert prayer leaders.
3.6 Facebook Messenger
• Feature/Setting: Messenger webhook for “prayer request” keyword; reply and forward request to team via Graph API.
3.7 Discord
• Feature/Setting: Bot for prayer-request channel to listen for new requests and push notification with Discord API.
3.8 Google Sheets
• Feature/Setting: New row trigger; when a request is logged, Google Sheets API posts details to assigned platforms.
3.9 Gmail
• Feature/Setting: Filter/prayer label; upon new labeled mail, trigger Apps Script or API call to send notifications.
3.10 Outlook
• Feature/Setting: Rule auto-forwards prayer emails to flow-initiating webhook; Outlook API used for monitoring.
3.11 WhatsApp Business API
• Feature/Setting: Webhook receives prayer SMS for routing to assigned groups or leaders.
3.12 HubSpot
• Feature/Setting: Form submit trigger; use Workflow API for creating prayer task and email/SMS notifications.
3.13 Typeform
• Feature/Setting: Prayer request form; webhook connector pushes new submission details to downstream notification.
3.14 Jotform
• Feature/Setting: Submission trigger to webhook for immediate processing; email to prayer team sent via API.
3.15 Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: Case creation from form/email; Process Builder assigns and notifies based on custom criteria.
3.16 Church Community Builder
• Feature/Setting: API triggers for new prayer entries; automated communication sent to prayer coordinators.
3.17 Planning Center
• Feature/Setting: API for form submission; notification workflow configured for relevant teams.
3.18 Zoom Chat
• Feature/Setting: Webhook bot in group chat; posts prayer requests as they arrive through flows.
3.19 Pushover
• Feature/Setting: API notification to prayer team instantly upon triggering event.
3.20 Voice Call (Twilio Voice)
• Feature/Setting: IVR menu accepts spoken/DTMF prayer requests; converts speech to text, dispatches notifications.
Benefits
4.2. Omnichannel delivery meets varying communication preferences.
4.3. Guarantees acknowledgment to requesters for increased engagement and trust.
4.4. Enables assignment, escalation, progress tracking, and follow-up.
4.5. Supports analytics on trends and response times for continuous improvement.
4.6. Scalable as congregation or request volume grows.